Todd Haley Postgame Quotes - Chargers

Chiefs beat Chargers 21-14

Opening Statement: “I know I’m late, I apologize. Not a pretty game, but I’m not in the business of worrying about how attractive it looks. We’ve been through that in the preseason. I thought our team came out here tonight. We obviously did enough to win. I was really excited about the physicalness of everybody across the board: offense, defense, special teams. I think we do have some guys that can run, hit, play to the whistle. I’m excited about a couple of these young guys that got in there in their first NFL game and made some real big plays. Like I said here a couple of weeks ago, I’ll be saying this for a little while, if you’re expecting something to look real fancy or nice, I don’t think that’s what you’re going to see here with this Chiefs team, and that’s alright. I think we’re figuring out how to get things done and I think that’s good and that’s one of the things I’ve been real excited about with this group of guys in the room next door. They work hard, I thought they did a great job of preparation, it never ends. It was a very long week having played that last preseason game on a Thursday. Not having the extra day on this end makes for difficult scheduling, but I thought they all handled it really well. We did some out-of-the-box things to prepare and I thought they came out and played their hearts out. I think the fans tonight. What a great energy out there. And this is how I visualized Arrowhead and it’s because of those people out there through some pretty difficult conditions, I would say. But it didn’t look like too many were shying away from it. That’s got me real excited, also, because I know if we can come in here in these home games and win, we’ll at least have a chance to compete. I said all week this is a good team we are playing in San Diego and they really are. That quarterback, those conditions were very difficult and he found a way to make a bunch of plays. But I’ll also say the talent that our Kansas City Chiefs have, showed that they’ve got a lot of fight in them and that’s part of that talent equation. It’s a win. Now we’re on a short week, getting ready for the Cleveland Browns and it’s going to happen fast.”

What more does Jamaal Charles really need to show you? “Jamaal obviously stepped up when he got in there and made a real big play for us, and a couple of other runs that looked like he did a real good job on. I think this team, the 45 guys we take to the game, are all going to be front-line players in my mind and Jamaal is one of those 45. I think that’s going to be part of what makes us a successful team. Everybody out there made enough plays for us to win. They didn’t turn the ball over, which was a very critical factor in our success tonight.”

Was special teams a difference for you tonight? That’s going to be an area that we are going to have to be successful in and win and week in and week out. We have some players that run down the field and hit and tackle and like to do it and we’ve got some good young returners that can make things happen. They’re going to have to be an issue for people. We’re going to need that and we’re going to need it every week and that’s got to be a weapon for us in a way that when we change field position we make good things happen. I thought Dustin Colquitt did a real good job in rough conditions. I thought he was a big factor in helping us win this game.”

How much better do you need the quarterback to be? “I know that we need to protect the football, our quarterback needs to protect the football, play the way we have to play to win right now. It’s an uphill battle at times just because of the circumstance. It was very difficult conditions: rain, wind, field conditions, and we were able to protect the football through the game which I had as a number one key for our offensive improvement. That’s a good enough improvement for me, and it ended up being a big reason for us winning the game.”

Your thoughts on the play of the defense, despite giving up a 59-yard touchdown late in the game: “I thought the defense played really well for the most part. We cannot, especially when we’re up by two scores in pretty tough conditions, we have to make that team beat us. Giving them a play like that really allowed them back in the game and gave them some hope when there probably wasn’t a lot. Overall, the defense played physical, tough football. We’re thin and guys were coming in and out of the game, fighting through across the board. I saw maybe four or five or six guys who were struggling with something. That’s going to be an issue for us but we can’t have plays like that.”

What does it say about your team to persevere and win? “I thought those guys played every play and that’s one of our little mottos, ‘Play every play.’ Play it as hard as you can. They did that and they did it right up to the end and we made enough plays to win. There were some terrific plays in that mix. I’m glad it ended the way it ended.”

Talk about how explosive your team may be this year: “We felt good about the development of Jamaal Charles. We felt good about all these players we brought in, whether it’s the draft or free agency, and I thought they all contributed and that’s the way we’re going to win football games. Today it happened to be Dexter McCluster making a real big play, Jamaal making a big play, Brandon Carr making a big play. The team that plays the best in the end usually wins and we played the best.”

What did you think about the play of DE Glenn Dorsey? “Without looking at the tape, I don’t know all the facts but I will say that from my vantage point that Glenn Dorsey must have played pretty well. I thought he was a factor, I thought he was disruptive. Like I said, we are thin there and guys are having to suck it up and play a lot of snaps. You could tell he played a full football game. I know he’s excited and they all are and this is a big win for us. It can’t be too big. It’s one win and now we have a short week to get ready for a good Cleveland Browns team.”

How important is it to not only to start off with a win but a win against San Diego? “Division home wins will be huge for us. For it being the first game and the first real game in our new stadium, I thought was perfect timing. This is a team that beat us up pretty good last year. They’re a very good team and they’re on top until somebody gets in that spot. Again, I thought the fans were terrific and a big part of making this a fun game. It’s the first one and starting fast is always good. It’s a W.”

Was not turning the ball over the biggest thing for you with the offense? Namely, do you think QB Matt Cassel played a good game: no turnovers, no fumbles, no interceptions? “Yeah, I thought he played good enough to win under very difficult conditions. With a two-score lead for a good chunk of the game and the weather factor played a big part in this, at least for me as the head coach making decisions [he had a good game].”

Can you take us through their last play and your timeout? “Without giving away too much we had our timeouts sitting there that probably were not going to get used at that time, so it gave us an opportunity to see how they were going to line up and what they were thinking. That’s something that we’ve practiced in the two-minute situation and I thought we did a good job executing. I thought Mike Vrabel did a very good job of making the official aware that he was probably going to [call a timeout] ahead of time.”

Can you talk about what you saw from Brandon Carr? “I thought, again without looking at the tape, that Brandon played very well. He competed. I challenged all those corners before the game knowing how we were going into the game and what our plan was...he was a big part of that and obviously and did a very good job. I saw him involved in the run game and he obviously did a good job in the pass game and he was opportunistic. He capitalized when the ball came out there which was a real big play for us.”